Apple Watch for ANDROID – Project Fennel Cancelled
Apple Watch only works with an iPhone and it’s the best smartwatch on the market right now. It’s long been wondered why Apple hasn’t ‘simply’ made the Watch available to Android phone users to control a significant chunk of the other side of the market. Now we know.
More: Bloomberg
Apple’s Project Fennel was aimed precisely with that goal in mind – to clean up in the Android space. The project was reported to be in an advanced state of readiness but was cancelled for ‘business reasons’.
The concern was that a move into Android would make the Watch less valuable to iPhone users and might stop people from moving from Android Phones to iPhones. Apple is and has always been extremely keen to protect its iPhone business and the iMessage service that is integral to its success there.
That’s it. It is as simple as that. Now we know.
Thoughts
My takeaway here for the future is that, if true, this report shows that Apple can readily move the Watch into the Android space if it changes its mind. It’s almost certainly done most of the groundwork and it probably wouldn’t take much over a year of software tweaks for Watch to support an Android phone.
Looking backwards you can see how Apple’s decision has made complete sense as the money rolled in. However, there are currently issues with selling iPhones in China and sales of iPhone 15 have not been as stellar as the company hoped. Apple is not in difficulty but, hey, most corporates want a bit more of our money at every possible turn.
The Android Apple Watch is the ace up Apple’s sleeve that can be played if things get tough.
Don’t expect to see one any time soon. But never say never.
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As an Android user, my dream device would be something like a Garmin Fenix running a cut down WearOS on a hyper efficient RISC-V SOC. Give me all of Garmin’s current metrics, plus LTE, Androids apps, a week long battery and you’ve got a killer product.